Right now, skateboarders who live in Lakeside have to drive to another neighborhood or get creative to find a safe spot to ply their sport close to home.

That’s about to change. Lakeside is on its way to building a skatepark in Lindo Lake County Park that will feature ramps, bowls and all the trimmings to keep thrill seekers on wheels satisfied. Construction is expected to start later this year and if all goes well, the skatepark will open next spring.

“Can you just see families coming and letting their kids skate while they do their exercise or take their dogs for a walk around the park? It’s just a beautiful, beautiful place,” said Terry Burke-Eiserling, co-chair and secretary of the Lakeside Skatepark Committee, sitting at a picnic table a few days ago close to where the skatepark will be built.

Since 2009, she and four other Lakesiders have made it their mission to make this skatepark happen — and no, they’re not 14-year-old boys. Burke-Eiserling, is 63. For years, she hopped into her Nissan Pathfinder and drove her son James, now 24, and his friends around the county. Santee and El Cajon have skateparks, but there was an unmet demand in Lakeside, Burke-Eiserling said.

“I would fill my car with boys and I would take them skateboarding or fishing or surfing, or whatever one does to provide healthy entertainment and activities for young people,” she said. “I would think, Why can’t I do that in my own community?”

In 2009, she and others on the committee went to a workshop about how to gain support and build a community skatepark. The workshop was sponsored by the Tony Hawk Foundation, which promotes and finances public skateparks in low-income areas across the U.S.

Between 2009 and now, the park received county approval, an extreme sports company completed the design, and construction will soon go out to bid.

The project has a budgeted price tag of $648,290. The county provided $195,880 from the general fund and just over $452,000 from a county parks land fund created through development fees, according to spokesman Steve Schmidt.

Documents from 2012 outlining the park’s construction and maintenance budget show that $45,000 went toward design services.

The skatepark committee has also put $65,000 into a trust to pay for five years of maintenance. Funds are also being raised for future maintenance, including by selling donor bricks.

Correction

An earlier version of this story failed to note that $65,000 in funding for the initial maintenance of the skatepark is already in a trust, and funds are being raised for future maintenance.

The Tony Hawk Foundation donated $5,000, Burke-Eiserling said. Private donors have also made contributions, from spare change to large checks.

“We’re excited to meet the recreational needs of the community,” said Christine Lafontant, district manager with the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation. She added that Lakeside has a growing population of skateboarders. They were using the streets, parking lots, and other structures in the park that weren’t meant to be skated on.